California lifts kangaroo goods ban
The us state California has lifted a three-decade-old ban on the sale of goods made from kangaroo leather.
World's leading sportswears companies use kangaroo hide to make soccer shoes and other sports footwear, which are popular among athletes. In 1971, following opposition from animal rights groups, California banned the sale of products made from the hide of kangaroos and other animals threatened with extinction. In 1995, the Australian government said that the kangaroo populations recovered, following which, the Californian State Legislature introduced a bill in 2003 to repeal the ban. But the bill was pending for nearly five years. The new law legalizes the import of products harvested from non-endangered kangaroo species only.